What follows are short descriptions of areas and regions within the Known Lands.
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To the north of Known Lands, beyond the Daggerback Expanse, lies a great desert. Formerly the Dendradi homelands, whatever magical cataclysm that struck down those ancient people laid waste to their lands, from the Icelands of Akasha to the Daggerback Expanses. Now, only the most hardy people call these magical wastelands home.
These orcish tribesmen of the Shattered Lands prey on the Clanholds of Jai'den, and occasionally raid lands to the south. Rumors persist that deep in the Shattered Lands, the Kurgesh have restored the ruins of three Dendradi cities, where a more civilized breed of orc maintains control over their brethren.
Serving as a barriere between the Shattered Lands and the expansive Plains of Talandine, this great mountain range reaches to incredible heights. The Daggerback Expanse serves as the home for the Clanholds of Jai'den.
The majority of the tarthani reside as part of the Clanholds of Jai'den, a militant confederation of feudal warlords in the Daggerback Expanse. Trapped between the Kurgesh orcs of the Shattered Lands, the Imperial dwarves of the Plains of Talandine and the underdark forces of the Warbroods of Tenebrus, the great warrior caste of the Clanholds protect their people using mind magics they've learned from captured Warbrood warriors.
Easily covering the eastern third of the Known Lands, the rolling Plains of Talandine are the breadbasket of the Known Lands. Humans primarily reside in the city-states along the coast, primarily in the region known as the Steadlands. The Imperial dwarves, cast from their mountainous homelands long ago by the Dendradi, control the vast Obsidian Empire in the northern plains and foothills of the Daggerback Expanse. The Five Tribes of Talandine control the central regions of the Plains, and limit the expansion of more civilized lands.
Located along the southeastern edge of the Plains of Talandine and northeast of the land-locked Sea of Myrrghor, the Steadlands are the largest concentration of human-occupied lands east of the Bloodborder Wood. The Steadlands are made up of a number of feudal city-states.
One of the oldest kingdoms in the Known Lands, the dwarves forged the Obsidian Empire after being sundered from their previous lands by the expansion of the Dendradi people. Despite the magical destruction of that race almost a millenia ago, the Imperial dwarves have been unable to regain their ancient homelands, now occupied by the Clanholds of Jai'den.
The City of Mages, Enhaven provides arcanists with a home where wizards find support and like-minded people. Ruled by a magocratic council, Enhaven is home to the Great Library, the largest library in the Known Lands. Enhaven is located on the coastal island of Geraath, equi-distant from the Obsidian Empire and the Steadlands. Built atop the ruins of a Dendradi outpost, the Great Library controls the Stone Portal, perhaps the most well-known of the Dendradi Portals still active.
The halfling corsairs of the Chimeran Islands do not harass Enhaven waters in exchange for safe passage through their ports.
The Hiverealms of the verminoid Kreen are concentrated primarily in the central regions of the Plains of Talandine, not far from the coastal areas along the mainland adjacent to Enhaven and the Isle of Geraath. The lands in this region are mostly barren from the Kreen's harvesting, and living creatures are herded or enslaved, to serve as additional food sources.
The mounted tribes that range the Plains of Talandine, these Five Tribes control the interior of the great plains. The races making up the Five Tribes are humans, gnolls, hobgoblins, kobolds and lizardfolk.
A small archipelago along the coastal regions east of the Steadlands, these isles contain the homeports of the halfling people. Despite the short stature of their race, the Chimeran Corsairs are feared on the High Seas for their incredible skill and success in piracy and privateering.
Occupying the central regions of the Known Lands north of the Sea of Myrrghor, this dark wood resists the penetration of most non-native species. The wood elves, often called "Blood Elves" by those that have crossed them, are highly xenophobic, and do not interact with the outside world, except in a purely aggresive manner. Only occasionally will a wood elf leave the Bloodborder Wood, and will refuse to speak of matters related to the Bloodborder Wood with anyone not native to the Wood, on pain of death to all he knows and loves.
Marking the southern boundary of the Known Lands, the land-locked Sea of Myrrghor contains the enchanted island of Al'turhak.
An enchanted island usually out of phase with this Plane Prime in the Sea of Myrrghor, Al'turhak is home to a psionic people with a hatred for arcane magic.
Lying beyond the Sea of Myrrghor, this vast marshland is home for numerous reptilean races, including the legendary City of Dragons.
Largely unclaimed, the Western Shores lie beyond the Bloodborder Wood to the west.
Formerly a magocracy on the Western Shores, the Walled City of Algoroth fell to the onslaught of Banelord Ariminon, an Outsider from the Shadowlands.
Marking the northern edge of the Shattered Lands, the accursed Icelands of Akasha suffer an eternal winter.
Beneath the surface of the Known Lands lies an expansive array of caves, caverns and underground rivers that make up the dark and gloomy region known in legend as the Underdark, but more accurately identified by scholars and sages as Tenebrus.
Once a powerful mystic race, the Dendradi people dabbled extensively in planar magics, bringing back great wealth and power from their explorations into other realms. Unfortunately, residents of one of these Planes possessed the ability to follow the race back, and wage war of them. The Shattered Lands serve as a memorial to that war and the fallen race known as the Dendradi. Elsewhere along the Known Lands, former Dendradi outposts now lie in ruin, many containing untold fortunes waiting those brave enough to dare to enter and overcome any current inhabitants.
Dendradi ruins are also the most likely location for the discovery of Dendradi Portals, magical gateways that allow passage to other realms, planes other than the Plane Prime.
The average Dendradi stone circle portal appears as follows:
Dendradi Stone Circle Portal (Huge, Open, One-Way):
Variable locations along Dendradi portal network (destination selection is random unless controlled by spells or magic items, such as the Portal Key of Enhaven.) Limited Activations (must wait an hour between activations); Limited Duration (only open for one minute, unless kept open).
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